Cracking the code to my tummy troubles

Well today was certainly an interesting day.

After dealing with constant stomach problems and then going to a Gastro Doc who decided to just throw pills at me, I think I finally found a guy who's going to help me crack the code.

I went to meet with Dr. Glenn Gero you can read all about him here.

He's a naturopathic doctor who takes a dietary/fitness and natural approach to healing and ailments. After checking him out, I decided that he was worth talking to and boy am I glad I did.

First of all, it's evident that he takes his health seriously. He lives a "clean-eating" life and is still on a rowing team. He doesn't just preach about health, he practices it. Unfortunately, that seems rare amongst traditional doctors now a days.

My doc rowing to health

He spent a WHOPPING two and a half hours with me. Carefully analyzing and discussing my blood work, my issues, why we were doing what tests we were doing. Have you ever spent 2 hours with a doctor? Not me. Not ever. In fact, the gastro specialist diagnosed my IBS and threw 2 toxic prescriptions at me within 5 minutes.

Anyway…

After a bunch of tests we found out that I have food sensitivities to:

• Gluten
• Dairy
• Artificial sweeteners
• Almonds (ALMONDS!?) Yes. Almonds.

I have been cutting back on gluten and dairy (though I still was having cheese a few times a week and I'm sure some gluten here and there) and thankfully I cut out artificial sweeteners a few months ago… this will encourage me to be even more diligent on all of it… but, almonds? Wow!! No wonder I can't get over my stomach issues - my milk has been replaced by almond milk for years. I eat a handful of almonds almost twice a day. That combined with a cheese stick snack and my day could be ruined and probably has been regularly.

Wow.

And by the way, it's probably worse when I combine these foods so when I did my full marathon and had a MISERABLE 26 miles of porto-potty stops it makes perfect sense now - I carb loaded the night before with pasta topped with cheese and then woke up and chased it with a bagel and cream cheese. 

Oh. Super bad move. Epically bad move.

When I'm home I never eat that. Even before cutting out gluten, I didn't do much pasta and my running breakfast go-to is typically oatmeal… since I couldn't make oatmeal in the hotel, I decided on that friggen bagel. So that could've been what did me in.

Oh, I know, "don't try anything new on race day." A few weeks prior I had, had a bagel the morning before my Jersey Shore half and it didn't seem to affect me. I also assumed bagels and pasta to be a relatively bland food so I didn't think that it would cause issue… Guess I was wrong.

Hmmm and I wonder if the sports drink they served was "sugar free" and used a artificial sweetener? I guess that would be a trifecta of tummy troubles. Who knows.

There were a few other minor issues that I have to deal with too - and it was all very fascinating. 

Good news is, chocolate, coffee, avocados, rice, red wine - all thumbs up foods :-) 

Also, I swore off bananas 4 years ago because I assumed I was allergic to them since I always got a stomach ache when I ate them. Doc says I am not sensitive or allergic to them! It could've been the skim milk I was using with them for my smoothie or the "light wheat" bread I was making my sandwich with but it wasn't the banana! Oh I hope that is true, I would love to eat banana's again and will put that to the test.

The Dr. gave me three supplements to take for my stomach, one was an IBS formula that he has created. Stomach issues is his specialty and he says that I won't ever have to buy that one again because it's healing. He also gave me some super probiotics and magnesium (the magnesium is for a suspected deficiency for all the cramping I get in my calves and feet - a side issue). The supplements cost me significantly less than the drugs medications that the Gastro dealer doctor tried to push at me and Dr. Gero promises me that I'll feel completely better and passed symptoms by Wednesday - less than a week!!!  

We will see. I'm excited to give it a shot… And now I'm off to throw out my whole jar of almond butter :-( 

XO

Jen

PS: So what does this mean for my "celebration" foods? Well, lets face it, I'll probably not swear off pizza for the rest of my life but I'll probably generally avoid it… I still might suck up the tummy ache for a pancake post half-marathon - or maybe I won't… Taking it one meal / day at a time. Thankfully, I'm pretty disciplined.

Tummy troubles

Pantoprazole - not taking it. Nope.

Ugh.

So I continue the journey in trying to figure out why I have a tummy ache every freakin' day of my life. 

Tests recently came back that showed no allergies to anything. Cutting out dairy and gluten seemed to make me feel a little bit better in other ways but, still, the tummy troubles come back.

Today I got to go see a gastro doc. He asked a few basic questions and quickly decided that it is probably IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Could be. I guess. I'm no stranger to Web MD so based on my symptoms I could have that or about every other stomach ailment on the planet.

He prescribed me TWO medications to take for the next 6 weeks. 

One is called Pantoprazole.  The other is Dicyclomine. He didn't hand me a prescription he sends it in "electronically" so of-course, I don't write down the names and didn't know what I was getting until I got it home.

Ugh again.  I'm pissed.

First of all, I'm not a big fan of just taking medication. I mean there's usually 800 side effects and frankly, I'd rather live with the stomach ache. Plus, I hate not knowing exactly what I've got. We're guessing at a diagnosis and it makes me feel like I'm taking the meds for the fun of it. I'd rather adjust my diet or something but I'd have to find a doc that believes in that approach I suppose. I probably should've spoken up while there but didn't even think about it until I was in the car. I was expecting him to run some tests or something before just giving me drugs.

Secondly, after looking up the medication, the first one doesn't even seem to address my issues. This is typically given to people with Gerd (reflux disease). That is one thing I know I don't have. He asked me if I ever take an antacid at the end of the appointment, and I told him I very occasionally take a tums (and that's when I've eaten total crap and have a little heartburn. That's not a mystery to me…) I've pretty much decided to not take the Pantoprazole. 

The second med (the Dicyclomine) has it's own list of shitty side-effects but at least that one is supposed to address IBS specifically.  But it's got side effects like the ones I'm trying to avoid like 'stomach pain,' vomiting, and upset stomach. WTF - great it cured my stomach ache with another stomach ache! Awesome. It also makes people drowsy (just what I need) and how about this little ditty:

you should know that dicyclomine reduces the body's ability to cool off by sweating. In very high temperatures, dicyclomine can cause fever and heat stroke.

Well isn't that just awesome for running in the summer. Sounds great.

Anyway… I don't know yet what I'm going to do - it makes me want to throw out both meds, never go back to the doctor again and just live with the stomach aches. 

I am so annoyed and frustrated right now about it - and I did personally like the doctor.  He's also supposed to be one of the best. I just feel like this is the result I'm going to get everywhere. 

Sigh. 

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In more fun/interesting news…

In case you don't remember, I was invited to run the Ragnar Race in January 2013 - From Miami to Key West. The Ragnar is a 200 mile 12 man relay race (or 6 man ultra).  I am so excited and honored to be on the team - each member of our team has lost an average of 100 pounds or more! How's that for cool? 

We are trying to come up with a cool name for our team. One that speaks to our weight loss journey but is also kind of fun.  Katie, who writes the blog, "Runs For Cookies" has a great giveaway going on! She's giving away a GARMIN! Woo Hoo - and you get a bonus entry for the giveaway if you throw your suggestions for a team name in. So CLICK HERE to read about the giveaway and pony up a name.

Hope you are having a great day.

Do you ever decide against taking medication that your doc has prescribed?

Do you know anyone who has IBS? Do they take meds or do they just live with it?

Should I give one or more of these meds a shot - am I being a baby? 

What do you think we should call our Ragnar team?

XO

Jen